Ted Talk Analysis

Over time, we have developed more and more advanced technology from radios to robots, and it has impacted us in a way that no one would imagine. In Sherry Turkle’s Ted Talk “Connected, but alone?,” Turkle explains how technology is redefining human connection. She explains that our cellphones are keeping us away from interacting in the real world and has a significant influence on our communication in person than online. In addition, we tend to seek social media as a way of comfort and attention, and the more we are using our phones the more isolated and alone we get. Is technology really redefining human connection? I can relate to Turkle’s argument about how technology is changing human’s social interactions, because I see my friends

Turkle’s speech, however, focuses on the relationship between technology and human connection. She dives into her speech about how we lose the ability to carry a normal conversation. In her speech, an eighteen-year-old boy wants to “‘someday, but certainly not now,... like to learn how to have a conversation’" (Turkle 00:06:13-00:06:18). I find this very poignant because the fact that an eighteen-year-old wants “to learn how to have a conversation” is kind of silly, but because we are so focused on carrying a conversation online, we lose the connection of being together and we want to seek social media as a means of a “friend”. Some people do not know how to carry a conversation in the real world because people are so used to carrying conversation on social media where “we get to edit, and that means we get to delete, and that means we get to retouch, the face, the voice, the flesh, the body -- not too little, not too much, just right” (Turkle 00:06:48-00:07:03). Turkle uses pathos throughout her speech to get her point across and by using hand signals in her Ted Talk, she makes her audience feel what she is feeling. And I feel like Turkle is successful in passing on her

Her Ted Talk is called “Connected, but alone” and it pretty much sums up what she is talking about in her speech that “connected” meaning socially interacting but online and “alone” meaning the lack of human connection in the real world. I agree and disagree with Turkle’s point that technology is leading us to isolation because long ago when technology was not a big deal, people found ways that led to isolation like drinking alcohol, working, reading, etc. Drinking alcohol is like being on our phones we take pleasure in them and are overwhelmed by them. We all had things that kept us separated from the real world, whether using a technology or not. Another thing I disagree on was that Turkle states that “we even text at funerals” (Turkle 00:03:53). I have been to many funerals including my mom’s, and I have never seen people text. Many people know that texting at funerals is disrespectful, so they do not text. For one to go to funerals one has to have manners and respect, and it shows the families of the deceased that you are there for